


So she's more important to me than I thought

by orphan_account



Category: Young Avengers (Comics)
Genre: Animals, Dogs, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-20
Updated: 2016-10-20
Packaged: 2018-08-23 14:08:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8330725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Holly, Eli's new dog after he moved to Arizona, runs away one morning. Eli runs after her in hopes of finding her safe and sound.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sorceringing](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sorceringing/gifts).



> Prompt given by (and in a way, created together with) [Omii](http://sorceringing.tumblr.com/post/149884435641/mothadan-replied-to-your-post-i-wanna-do-some/)! Thanks for creating a happy dog friend to my lovely son, Eli 'Patriot' Bradley, and thank you for loving him as much as I do.

Moving to Arizona had been, according to his mother, one of Eli’s smartest ideas to date. Before getting Holly, Eli had agreed with her. Now, he didn’t. After what had happened in New York – betraying the Avengers (both Young and old), almost dying at one point, and gaining superpowers for real – not much could make Eli feel as calm as Holly could.

Sure, his younger siblings could make him laugh. Stephanie would tell Eli a bad joke, and Eli would ruffle her hair with a smile on his face, saying something along the lines of “You’ll be a comedian one day, Steph”; or Litigious would show a drawing of his favourite leaf of the month and Eli would examine it as if he was a professional art critic, ending with both of them bent over from laughter. But their warmth, pure as it was, didn’t help when Eli would wake up in the middle of the night, air stuck in his lungs despite his need to scream. Only Holly knew how severe his nights could be, and she would curl up next to him. Let him hug her harder than any human would tolerate. When he had calmed down, she would bring Eli’s mother to the room, letting her hold her son as he sobbed into her chest.

It had been a close call regarding getting Holly or not. When his therapist had recommended the shelter-bound shepherd mutt as a therapy dog – she had a certificate and all! – he had held the strong belief that _superheroes_ didn’t _need_ help, especially not from a _dog_. But then he had made the mistake of talking about the whole ordeal in front of his siblings, and they had begged him to reconsider until he did. He was weak to them, as was their mom.

Now, proud owner of Holly (named so by Steph and Lit, rather than Eli himself), Eli would catch himself laughing at his own suspicion. She was a bundle of energy, exhausting the kids as well as Eli on a daily basis. They’d all sleep calmly, and Eli had more dreamless nights than not. When he _did_ have a dream, Holly would be there, right next to him. Her joy, which seemed to fill the entire house as well as her entire body, had brought the family closer together. Eli could now _see_ the joy in his mom’s eyes as he actually got out of bed in the mornings to take Holly on her first walk.

So when Eli woke up one morning, some eight months after accepting Holly into the family, and couldn’t find the dog anywhere – well, Eli got worries. Much so. His first instinct was to wake up the rest of the house, and together they checked every corner of the house before they moved to the backyard. There was no sign of her.

Eli, realising at this moment that he _needed_ Holly more than he had dared to admit before, ran out of the house still in his slippers, wallet and keys and _phone_ left on his bedroom desk. Running towards the small bundle of restaurants near the main road (knowing it was Holly’s favourite walking route) he almost – no, _definitely_ – fell over when he got a glimpse of brown furry ears sticking out of a trash can behind the still closed diner.

His dog, trained to be attentive and smart, was stuck. In a trashcan. The relief washed over him, and he had to lie down a while as he laughed until he cried. Holly perked up at the familiar sound of her owner, and started whining. He stood up, ignoring the scrapes at his knees and elbows, and started making his was over here.

“Holly?” he yelled, and realised that a very tall, locked wire fence was dividing them. “What are you doing there?”

She continued to whine as she wiggled to and fro. The trashcan moved, but was far from tipping over.  Eli stood some six feet from her, trying to calm her down and figure out how to get to the other side when he saw the hole near the bottom. So that’s how Holly had gotten into the closed trash are of the diner. Eli, figuring he had to get in there to save her, got down on his bloody knees and crawled through. In the process, a piece of his shirt stuck to the metal wire, and ripped a large gash into it. His mother would kill him, he was sure. And Holly too, probably.

Throughout all this, Holly continued whining, and she didn’t stop until he had his hands physically on her. She started wagging her tail, causing the trash can to vibrate in her excitement.

“Someone happy to see me?” Eli asked, pitching his voice in a way he had never done before. He blamed it on that he had missed her, too.

She barked happily back at him.

“Alright, good girl, let’s get you out of here, yeah?” He started pulling at her front legs to find enough to grip. When he did find it under her armpits – or were dogs’ pits called something else? Eli wasn’t sure – he hoisted her up and out of it. From underneath her, a squirrel took its chance to jump out of the can. It ran off towards freedom, and Holly, who had definitely noticed the movement, tried to get away from Eli and chase it. Good thing Eli had super strength, now.

“Was that what this all was about?” Eli asked Holly. “Did you run away to chase some tiny animals?”

She barked again, and the bastard sounded as happy as a dog can be. Was probably proud of her actions too.

“Gods above, Holly, never scare me like that again.”

Third time’s the charm; when Holly barked for the third time, happy as ever, Eli couldn’t help but laugh together with her.


End file.
